Cacao butter has the amazing quality of melting at body temperature. In chocolate, this creates that divine mouth-feel. The killer melt-in-your-mouth sensation that brings in waves of flavor. In practice, however, we rarely get chocolate that good because the cacao butter is often partially removed during the chocolate-making process. Why? Because it is worth good money to the cosmetics industry.

But then you may well ask: "What replaces that cacao butter?" Glad you asked: yucky fats. Cheap fats that do not have nearly the same qualities as cacao butter. Fats that make the chocolate feel waxy in comparison, like it is coating your tongue and you need to have a drink afterward.

Artisan chocolate is different from industrial chocolate in so many ways, all along the chain, and this is but one of them. There are legitimate reasons it costs more, too, and substituting cheap fats is a biggie. The big chocolate makers think we won't know what's missing. Well, we do, and we can surely taste the difference. Come by the store for some *real* chocolate. Some chocolate made with only real cacao butter. Some chocolate that will melt in your mouth like no other!